Buses not turning up

Initial problem

For the second Saturday night in a row the 11.38 E bus failed to turn up leaving a large number of people stranded. Some of us had to get taxis at an added costs and other young people were dependent on trying to get parents to come from as far as Blackshaw Head to pick them up. One young girl was on her own.
This service is deteriorating. I have a number of friends who rely on this service and it is now becoming a joke.
I hope you manage to get a contact Tyrer soon as this is becoming beyond a joke.
I have to add that they do have some very helpful drivers but the service is a sad reflection on what it has been

Posted

Updates

Hi Karen,
It seems Tyrer have been taken over by Maytree Travel. I'll speed your message on its way now.

anorak

admin

2
Karen Matula added an update
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19:36 31 Oct 2011

Hi

Just had an email back from Maytree who said its not them and advised me to try Tyrer of Nelson!!!!

I'm still awaiting a response from Tyrer to any of my recent pleas so if anyone has any luck I'd be happy to hear from you.

Karen

3
Myf Nixon added an update
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16:13 13 Dec 2011

Hi Karen,

Apologies for not picking up your message before now - I know it's been a while. Did Tyrer ever reply to your initial message?

My information about Maytree was based on this site: http://www.maytreetravel.co.uk/ where there is a message to say:

"Maytree Travel Ltd originally trading as Tyrer Bus (Bolton) had been in operation as part of Tyrer Tours Ltd, On 1st December 2008, when Tyrer Bus (Bolton) was operating with 10 vehicles and 25 staff, Robert offered Gary the chance to buy the majority share of the Bolton Operation, which he duly did, Bob remains a shareholder of Maytree Travel Ltd to give advice and continuity of business going forward."

To me, that is not massively clear, but I took it to mean that Tyrer was taken over by Maytree - which also seems backed up by the fact that Tyrer Tours seems not to have a website.

I'd be grateful if you could let us know where you got to with the issue, partly because I'd like to know if you made progress, and partly so that I can make sure our database is correct!

As the service remains a frustration, you could always try setting up a FixMyTransport campaign page - that way you can also gather the support of fellow frustrated passengers, and tap into their advice too.

anorak

admin

5
Myf Nixon added an update
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09:46 14 Dec 2011

(Karen sent this message via email:
Sadly but not surprisingly they did not respond to my message to them. I am now really fed up with a poor service, missing last buses late at night and a price hike of 40p from £1.80 to £2.20 with no announcement. They are really not offering the service we once had and I suspect my route is not the only one.)

anorak

admin

6
James McCollom added an update
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09:58 14 Dec 2011

With my Manchester Transport blog hat on for a moment - ignore the history (as it's confusing) but accept that Tyrer and Maytree are two distinct bus operators: Maytree operates services around Bolton and Wigan, whilst Tyrer has services in Burnley, Todmorden and (recently) Rochdale.

(Maytree used to be called Tyrer, but changed name some time around 2008/2009.)

7
Tom Hughes added an update
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10:01 14 Dec 2011

My reading of that is that Tyrer Bus (Bolton) was a subsidiary of Tyrer Tours that got bought out by it's managers and renames as Maytree Travel.

The original parent company, Tyrer Tours, still seems to exist as a company in Nelson:

http://opencorporates.com/companies/gb/01458953

8
Tom Hughes added an update
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10:07 14 Dec 2011

There is a website of www.tyrertours.com listed on duedil.com but that domain doesn't seem to be registered any more, if it ever was.

Duedil also suggests 08451301716 as a phone number.

9
Myf Nixon added an update
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10:59 14 Dec 2011

Thank you very much Tom and James! Karen, you might like to try that phone number? Do let us know if you take it any further - and also, if you do phone them, please ask if they have an email address!

anorak

admin

10
James McCollom added an update
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13:50 14 Dec 2011

Checking out the West Yorkshire Metro page suggests only a postal address and phone number. for Tyrer Tours. I understand service E is a tendered service provided on behalf of Metro, so they should be able to investigate tool.

11
Myf Nixon added an update
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17:02 14 Dec 2011

Thanks for the suggestion, James. I've tweeted @MetroTravelNews, and also see from their previous replies to passengers that complaints about any bus operator that they oversee can be sent via the form on this page.

anorak

admin

12
Dave H added an update
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21:12 14 Dec 2011

This is a registered bus service, operated by an operator with an 'O' licence. It would appear to be registered with the Northeastern Traffic Area Office and recorded in their Notices and Proceedings list as follows on 27 August 2010, with no indication of any subsequent variation from a quick and simple search of N&P for TAO using the operator's registered details

From this you should also be able to look up the scheduled times for the services - but noting that it may be a hail & ride service over parts of the route there may be some fluidity in the timings between any fixed timing points but not presumably the route, unless it has any sections over which the route may be varied (demand responsive services). I'd need to spend a bit of time hunting down all the details, and there may also be factors linked to the hail & ride to check before kicking off about this.

Given the inconvenience caused though, it may be worth contacting the Traffic Commissioner to get the description of the service registration as it is published and set for delivery.

Here's what TAO (VOSA) says about registered bus services

Do you have to run your local bus service exactly as registered?

When you register your service, you are committing yourself to running it in the way you have described in your application - ie to the route and timetable registered.

If you don't run your service in the way it was registered, your registration could be cancelled and you may face a fine.

In future to make sure you do look for the right operator -

By law the operators trading name and registered operating base have to be displayed in 1" letters on the nearside of the bus or coach so that you can read this standing on the kerbside (most usual place is behind front wheel arch).

13
Myf Nixon added an update
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13:20 16 Dec 2011

We had a comment from Metro via Twitter today:

"Service E is run by Tyrer under contract w/ Metro. Passed on customer concerns. Tyrer taking steps to improve reliability."

anorak

admin

14
peter gerrad added an update
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06:44 20 Jan 2012

Can you please clear this up! Maytree Travel Ltd is Not Tyrer Bus. Tyrer Bus (Bolton) was bought and renamed Maytree Travel on 1st December 2008. I have spoken to someone at Maytree who remembers the e-mail regarding this service and it was forwarded on to Tyrer Management.

So despite these posts this problem does not appear to that of Maytree Travel, so i think an appolgy is in order for this!

15
peter gerrad added an update
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06:53 20 Jan 2012

I know someone at Maytree Travel and i asked them about this e-mail, and they recalled it and said it was sent to Tyrer's management.

Maytree Travel is not accountable for services operated by Tyrers, Maytree Travel was formed 01st December 2008 after purchase of Tyrer Buses Bolton operations.

I have not seen anywere within this article with an apology to Maytree about this, we are so quick to jump on bus companys etc to complain but at times it is nothing to do with the company concerned.

on the Maytree's website the history is very clear and clearly list routes that they operate.

It annoys me that people do not get the full facts first before complaing about something.

16
Myf Nixon added an update
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16:10 24 Jan 2012

Hello Peter,
Thank you for taking the time to come onto this page to clear up who the problem needs to go to.

Just to try to clarify the issue a little: FixMyTransport is a website which helps users contact transport operators when they have a problem or an enquiry. Our content is generated by our users: in this case, Karen has complained about an issue in good faith, and because of the data behind our site, the message was sent to Maytree.

(Our data is taken from the only publicly-available dataset, NaPTAN, which is only updated annually. It's the same dataset that all other national travel websites use too. However, we will soon have access to a much more frequently updated dataset which should eradicate issues like this).

In the meantime I will happily apologise to Maytree on behalf of FixMyTransport for any disservice done to their name. Clearly it is no fault of Karen's, and I hope you will see that subsequent debate from our users was in the spirit of trying to nail down precisely where her message should have been sent. Hopefully this page will stand as a record for anyone else who is confused.

For me, the important points are a) that Karen receives a decent reply to her problem and b) that we ensure our database is up to date so that future FixMyTransport users can send their message to the right place.

On the whole getting in touch with FMT was a good experience and helped resolve the problem. The only thing that was difficult was one person clearly hadn't read all of the chain so was a bit upsetting.
But that said many thanks as my bus service has really improved and I'm not the only one benefiting from this.